Yup- absentee ballots will be out in only a month. Campaign flyers filled with fantasies and lies are being mailed. Press releases (paid for by us) are full of sugar plums, faerie dust and boasts about the pork dragged home from DC by lucky incumbents, who keep their jobs 93% of the time. Freshman Congresswoman Brownley (CD26- most of Ventura County) plays that game with the best of them.

The recent release shown below is no exception and in fact typical of what we have been seeing- millions of dollars being delivered to constituents and announced by your loyal and hard-working public servants, implicitly or explicitly claiming credit for it.

It is not clear from that release whether the funds were personally rounded up, hog-tied and delivered to John Q. Public, Ventura County contingent, by Ms. Brownley, or just part of a huge giveaway of public funds provided by hardworking taxpayers.

But one should observe that all of those funds are:

1. Being used for an unconstitutional purposes NEVER envisioned by the Founders or authorized by the Constitution. Yet, the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a major consumer of capital. It is the very essence of big, bloated, centrally planned, centrally controlled government.

2. First collected from us then redistributed according to political priorities and social objectives that our elites have established, after taking their cut and attaching conditions for use of the funding.

3. Used, in effect, to buy votes. Mitt Romney, privately in 2012, made the highly political incorrect observation, later outed, that 47% of the population are net recipients of entitlements. But actually a lot of that money also ends up with the providers of the products and services offered to the “entitlees.” Some of that money goes to net contributors to government, too, but it is under the control of elite politicians who determine the disposition and conditions, which gives them enormous power.

Is it just a Democrat problem? Hell no- all fiscal bills MUST originate in the currently Republican-controlled House of Representatives. This money couldn’t be spent without the express permission of Speaker John Boehner, approval of a Republican Appropriations Committee and a House majority vote, then approved by the Harry Reid Democrat-controlled Senate and signed by Obama. These appropriations are turned into grants, which “trickle down” to communities, which then fight over how the money will be utilized/distributed, with “Big Brother” Federal and often state oversight. We know, because we attend a lot of city council meetings and watch the unseemly struggles drag on and on for the money, how it will be used and for whom. They say watching politics is like watching sausages made- how appropriate.

Politicians are now working even harder than usual to position themselves to take credit, whether or not earned, for doling out the money, which they have first taken from you, after taking their aforementioned cut, dictating how you will spend it and demanding your gratitude and votes for doing so.

In Ventura County, it has been so since anyone can remember, although it intensified a couple of years ago. Conservative forces were unable this year to nominate a constitutional candidate to change that, but there is another candidate at least better than the incumbent- who was rated 435 …. out of 435 representatives, for conservatism by the Club for Growth and only 6% Conservative by the Heritage Foundation.

Please vote informed and wisely.

The press release in question …

OFFICE OF U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JULIA BROWNLEY

For Immediate Release

Friday, September 5, 2014

Contact: Eric Parker

(202) 225-5811

BROWNLEY ANNOUNCES NEARLY $7 MILLION FOR COMMUNITIES ACROSS VENTURA COUNTY

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. — Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) announced that the County of Ventura and communities across the region will receive nearly $7 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“This critical funding will help expand economic opportunities across Ventura County, as well as increase the supply of affordable housing and emergency shelters to ensure that families have a safe place to call home,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “Additionally, these grants will provide local governments with essential resources to meet local housing needs and local community development priorities.”

“The County of Ventura, along with its Entitlement Area partner communities of Santa Paula, Port Hueneme, Ojai, Fillmore and Moorpark, are grateful to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the FY 2014 award of $1,531,811 in CDBG and $446,406 in HOME funds,” said Ventura County Executive Officer Mike Powers. “As in previous years, these funds will be utilized to enhance essential services for persons of low income, with emphasis on satisfying basic needs of housing, food, and supportive services for homeless and elderly within our communities.”

In total, $6,858,051 will be allocated to the County of Ventura and the cities of Camarillo, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura from HUD’s Community Planning and Development Program, which includes Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME). These grants seek to develop viable communities by promoting integrated approaches that provide decent housing, a suitable living environment, and expand economic opportunities for low and moderate income persons through a coalescing of all levels of government

Below is the breakdown of HUD Community Planning and Development Program funds allocated to the 26th Congressional District:

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